January 23, 2013

In the simplest terms, these keys are appropriate marketing know-how, attitudes and actions.

These keys are not unique to marketing professional services. They are at the core of success in every human endeavor … including the delivery of professional services.

For practical purposes, this means that if you can satisfy clients with your professional services, you can apply the marketing equivalents of know-how, attitudes and actions to attract new clients. But that’s another post for another time.

One Clearly Identifiable Factor

Reconnecting with my legal training, I am reminded of the the principle of audi alteram partem or “hear [audi] the other side too” .

This raises the question: “If appropriate know-how, attitudes and actions are the keys to successfully marketing professional services, what blocks…or gets in the way of…successful professional service marketing?”

Based on my experience, there is one clearly identifiable factor that prevents most of from achieving the success we want. This factor has nothing to do with either marketing know-how or attitudes. It is one single action, an action that we have all taken deliberately or by default.

That action? Lack of focus.

Keep Your Eye On The Ball

Not surprisingly, the same factor also serves as an obstacle to success in non-marketing and non-business situations alike.

If you have ever played a sport involving a ball, puck, or something else to be smacked or caught, you are painfully aware of the importance of ‘keeping your eye on the ball’.

We all know what happens when we take our eyes of the ball. Sometimes the outcome is simply less than satisfactory results. Other times it is a huge disappointment. And occasionally, the outcome is nothing short of a disaster.

In marketing professional services, the ball is the results we want to achieve. Whenever we allow ourselves to be distracted by the latest technological advance instead of staying the course to achieve our goals…we are taking the eye off the ball. Similarly, whenever we jump all over a new opportunity at the cost of ignoring the pursuit of our planned goals, we have lost our focus and direction.

Successfully marketing professional services is not really all that difficult. Unfortunately, like other fairly straight-forward things in life, we make it harder for ourselves than it needs to be. Instead of keeping a tight focus on achieving our set goals, we take our eyes off the ball and achieve less than satisfying results.

Now that I have identified lack of focus as the #1 obstacle, how do you keep focused on achieving your goals?